Apple Music Merch Feature

Addition of an eCommerce feature to the Apple Music app that follows brand design system guidelines. Feature allows users to interact with their favorite artists and brings a new revenue stream to the business.

DELIVERABLES PROVIDED

Created wireframes and prototypes that align with both user and business goals and express design principles.

Crafted user and task flows, site map, affinity maps, personas, and user research. This allowed me to gather insights for which to base design decisions on.

Designed interactive components and prototypes to perform usability testing and iteration of the design based on feedback.

Users are in need of a simple feature which would allow them to browse and purchase their favorite artist’s merchandise. This will require a seamless addition to the artist’s screen, the home screen, and a new screen specifically for merch.

Problem Statement

Problem Background

Apple Music is the 2nd largest music streaming service and holds 15% market share. With large, successful competitors and a rise in purchases of artist’s merchandise, the addition of a merch purchasing feature would benefit users, artists, and the business.

Success Measures

Users will be able to reduce the average time spent locating a condition or drug by at least 30%


The app will be rated at over 68% on the system usability scale (SUS)


Task completion rate will be at least 90% for all users and tasks

Discover

Research Objectives

Understand users wants and needs when purchasing items on an app or web app

Understand the motivation to buy an artist’s merchandise

Determine if users find value in the addition of this feature, and what will increase the value for users

Determine the user’s frustrations in the past or present when purchasing items on an app or web app

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

  • User personalization, user-centric design

  • Simple, beautiful UI

  • Largest market share

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES:

  • No e-commerce feature

  • Most features require subscription

  • Few proprietary features

  • Proprietary service

  • User base connected to brand

  • Larger user base that is looking for music videos

STRENGTHS

  • Most users use free features rather than subscribe

  • Less utilized for daily music streaming

WEAKNESSES

  • User base connected to brand

  • Concert tickets feature

  • Amazon Alexa compatibility

STRENGTHS

  • Lacks large podcast user base

  • Slightly less user-friendly user experience

WEAKNESSES

I interviewed 5 participants who all used various music streaming services. They had different habits, motivations, needs, and pain points. Below are some of the most important insights I gained:

USER INTERVIEWS

Users find the most value in personalized features that consider listening history.

Users need a hub of merch so they can see products in one place which would improve usability.

Most participants stated the addition of a merch feature would increase their likelihood to purchase.

The users get frustrated with screens that are overcrowded. The new feature will need to be seamlessly integrated.

Define

User Personas

Ideate

User Flow Mapping

Task Flow Mapping

Design

Low-Fidelity Sketches

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

Addition of merch on homepage allows a quicklook at products

Merch hub screen allows users to browse merch based on their listening history all in one place.

Feature utilizes Apple’s native point of purchase capabilities

User information will autofill using Apple Pay or information from their Apple Music account

Additional products will be presented based on order and listening history to increase chance of additional purchases

UI Kit

Buttons

Form Fields

Carousels

Footers

Test

After the high-fidelity prototype was finalized, a usability test was created using Maze. Participants from different walks of life were then recruited to take part in a Zoom virtual usability test. Below are the insights I gained:

Usability Testing

Users felt the bag screen could allow further additional changes right before checkout to avoid having to navigate back.

Users stated that the new feature meets their needs and would increase the likelihood of purchasing.

Of the four tasks, all task flows were completed sufficiently by all participants. Participants were pleased with the visual and functional design patterns.

Users were able to detect and correct errors, navigating back and forth between screens and putting items in and out of their cart.

The resulting takeaways from usability testing were utilized to make revisions to my design. This allows me to defend my design decisions with research and from user data.

Making Revisions

Below are the ways in which this project has improved my design thinking skills and optimized my design process:

Key Takeaways

Adding to an existing product requires seamless integration into the UI and UX that does not burden the user.

Product

This project allowed me to exercise adding a feature to an existing product, matching the UI and user flow.

Testing

Final Thoughts

Early and frequent testing will glean more valuable data to base design decisions on.

  • Build out screens to the full product

  • Consider adding an avenue to purchase concert tickets along with merch

  • Consider allowing artists more customization of their artist screens

Next Steps

Thank you!

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